Heart-focused Breathing to reduce stress and anxiety.
Practice breathing while imagining your breath passing in and out through your heart area or the center of your chest. Envision yourself as taking a time out to refuel your system by breathing in an attitude of calm and balance (like breathing in an emotional tonic to take the rough edges off).

The key to making this exercise effective is to generate the true feeling of calm and balance. You can substitute calm and balance at times with breathing the feeling of appreciation or compassion (or whatever attitude you choose to breathe). This can be done in a quiet place or while walking, jogging, and even in a conversation once you get familiar with it. It’s very helpful for reducing anxiety, anger and mild depression.
Here is the short version of the above technique for quick reference:

1. Imagine the breath passing in and out through the heart or the center of the chest.

2. Breathe an attitude of calm or balance (or whatever positive feeling you choose) to help restore balance.
Heart-focused breathing is being taught by doctors, nurses and clinics throughout the world. It’s especially helpful during times of crisis or whenever you experience anger, anxiety or emotional overload. Heart-focused breathing exercises can help you shift stress-producing attitudes more quickly and reset your stress tolerance baseline.

I recommend that when your energy is low or you are feeling anxious you stop whatever you are doing, close your eyes, take a 3 minute break and do this technique. This is a very quick and effective centering practice.

A daily practice can pave the way to encourage you to stay directed on your journey to shift and transform.
In order to depersonalize the daily stress, negative emotions, and thoughts that we encounter daily we need to have a regular routine that keeps us balanced in body, mind and spirit. Various cultures approach this dilemma in many different ways using a daily centering practice called Dharma. This term refers to a form of self discipline ranging from prayer to yoga to gardening, whatever regular practice assists with feeling balanced and connected to the whole, spirit, God, universe.

Some believe that maintaining the continuity through the ages by duplicating practices developed over millennia will assist you in benefiting from ancient wisdom. Whether it is chanting ‘om’ to connect with the essence of the universe or partaking in the ritual of the Eucharist to transmit the spirit of Christ to the participant, there is certainly a touch of majesty and comfort in these formal traditions. It is also practical in the sense that there are established communities which practice these formal traditions that give you support and access. In all cultures, the importance of a meditative practice is emphasized, whether that be prayerful meditation, a walking meditation, breathwork, Reiki or other forms of self healing, chi gong, tai chi, drumming, toning sacred mantras, or meaningful body movement which is both connecting and grounding.
The key elements for a grounding and connecting daily dharma are: Intention and Mindfulness – To stay fully present in the moment and place our awareness on all the potential choices we can make, while recognizing the possibilities we have in our daily life to transform and shift. Then making the choice to do so. The word ‘practice’ can refer to integrating our mind, body and spirit into everything we do to allow for transformation; it can also mean to be goal oriented and be a means to an end. The intention of a daily Dharma is to get in touch with our inner resources and experiences to promote change, evolve and reshape both our self and our outer world. Through a practice we can break old habits and allow ourselves to cultivate new insights and ways of perceiving and creating in the world.
Intuition is another key element to a practice of Dharma. We need to access our intuition to know whether what we are practicing is right for us at any given moment. When our practice becomes just a mindless habit and is not assisting us in learning about ourselves or developing new insights, it’s time for something different.
A daily dharma can help you stay mindful, live more fully in the present, feel a deeper sense of joy and love, put your ego in perspective, make you aware of your true gifts and abilities, teach you how to get out of your own way and live in the joyful mystery of this grand universe.
Marion Ross & Tracy Latz

Tracy Latz, M.D. and Marion Ross, Ph.D. offer theirwisdom, tools, humor and compassion to assist you with shifting the obstacles that have caused you to feel stuck or stymied in your relationship patterns, circumstances or life. You CAN begin to create the life you truly desire to live. Are you ready to experience more joy and love in your life?

Dr.s Latz and Ross teach seminars and classes based on their two books titled SHIFT: 12 Keys to Shift Your Life (available at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com) and SHIFT: A Woman’s Guide to Transformation (scheduled to be released July 2009, Morgan James Publishing).